How 95-year-old Wallace Wade Stadium will look different for Duke football this season

Duke unveiled a significant change to its venerable football home Monday as a trendy party deck will be available for this season’s games.

The Devils Deck is being constructed in the north end zone seating area of 95-year-old Wallace Wade Stadium, a move that will reduce capacity by nearly 5,000 seats in favor of the major new amenity.

The plan is to allow fans to continue their tailgating experience while inside the stadium. Seven sections of seats at the top of the stadium’s bowl above the end zone are being converted into a tiered, free-flowing space that will include standing and non-reserved seating areas.

Devils Deck attendees will have access to an all-you-can-eat buffet of tailgate food like hamburgers and hot dogs plus unlimited non-alcoholic beverages. Beer and alcoholic seltzer drinks will be available for purchase.

Accessing the area will require an additional fee on top of buying a game ticket. The price is $47 if the add-on is purchased at least 24 hours before kickoff and $57 otherwise. Duke students can access the Devils Deck for $35.

In exchange for adding the Devils Deck, Wallace Wade Stadium’s capacity will drop from 40,004 to 35,018.

While going 6-1 in home games last season, Duke averaged 25,111 per game. That was up slightly from the 24,505 it averaged in 2022.

The Blue Devils have posted back-to-back winning seasons, winning bowl games to cap each campaign. Duke went 11-2 at Wallace Wade Stadium during that time under coach Mike Elko. Manny Diaz took over the Duke program last December after Elko left to become Texas A&M’s head coach.

“I saw from afar last season how a great atmosphere can impact games at Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium,” Diaz said in a statement. “This year, we wanted to take our gameday experience to a new level. With the addition of the Devils Deck, fans get access to an exclusive fun tailgating atmosphere, while still being inside the stadium to watch the game.”

The capacity change to Wallace Wade Stadium is the first since the school spent more than $100 million on major renovations from 2014-16. That’s when Blue Devil Tower, featuring luxury suites and club seating, was constructed and the running track that surrounded the field was removed, allowing 4,000 more seats to be added. That bumped the capacity from 33,941 to the 40,004 the stadium seated from 2016-23.

Last season, the Blue Devils drew 40,768 when it played Notre Dame — on the same day ESPN broadcast its College GameDay football show from Duke for the first time. Duke’s season-opening 28-7 win over Clemson drew 31,638 on Labor Day night and the Oct. 14 game with nearby rival N.C. State, a 24-3 Duke win, drew 31,833.

Duke opens this season on Aug. 30, a Friday night, against Elon. The Blue Devils have ACC home games with North Carolina (Sept. 28), Florida State (Oct. 18), SMU (Oct. 26) and Virginia Tech (Nov. 23).